Weißenstein Castle (Ruin)

The castle ruin Weißenstein is located in the Bavarian Forest on a 758-meter high quartz rock, the Pfahl ("Castle Hill") in the Weißenstein district of the city of Regen in the district of Regen in Bavaria.

The rock castle was built by the Counts of Bogen around 1100. After the extinction of this noble family in 1242, the castle fell to the Bavarian dukes. In 1308, the Bavarian dukes Otto and Stephan of Lower Bavaria enfeoffed the knight Eberwein von Degenberg with the lordship of the castle. In 1339/40, the castle became the property of the Degenbergers.

When the Degenbergers rose against Duke Albrecht IV in the Böckler War, ducal troops under Georg von Lerchenfeld appeared before the castle on December 9, 1468. Shortly before Christmas, Weißenstein Castle was captured and burned down. However, the Degenbergers rebuilt the castle and remained here until their extinction in 1602 with the death of Hans Sigmund von Degenberg.

The castle fell to Elector Maximilian I, who established the seat of the electoral administrator here. In the Thirty Years' War, the castle was devastated by the Swedes in 1633. In 1740, the south side of the castle collapsed, and in 1742, Franz von der Trenck with his Pandurs finally destroyed the castle.

The castle has since fallen into disrepair, while the official residence and outbuildings were restored. In 1762, a tower-like building, the so-called granary, was built for this purpose, because this structure also served as a grain storage for the tithes of the subjects. In 1918, the writer Siegfried von Vegesack bought the house and made it his home. Due to the high costs incurred, he called it "Das fressende Haus" (The Devouring House). He also titled his novel published in 1932 with this name.